Senator Bernie Sanders, D-VT, has hosted his first official Twitch stream. The senator from the state of Vermont, who is also campaigning to be the next President of the United States, created his Twitch channel last month to much excitement from his supporters, but this is the first time that the politician has appeared on Twitch live.

Sanders, whose Twitch handle is Bernie_Sanders, hosted a chat earlier this week as he took questions from viewers about his Medicare for All policy. Sanders said in the stream that healthcare is a human right and something that no American should be denied of and he spent some of the 25 minute long broadcast answering questions about how he would make Medicare for All happen.

When one viewer explained that they'd had brain surgery in Canada and hadn't had to pay any money for it. Sanders explained that this is possible because it is paid for by taxpayers and that "everybody contributes." Medicare for All will be funded like this, said the presidential candidate, "it will be funded in a very progressive way with the wealthy paying their fair share of taxes." He also said that suggestions that Medicare for All would leave some without healthcare is a "silly" and "fear-mongering" idea.

Watch Chatting with Bernie Sanders About Medicare for All from Bernie_Sanders on www.twitch.tv

The first Sanders Twitch stream seemed to be a success. Sanders has a large fanbase of gamers, with many gamers making memes of Sanders playing games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds after he created his Twitch channel. So, Twitch seems like a good place for the senator to reach people who support ideas like Medicare for All, or those who feel positive about it but want some more information.

However, the praise for Sanders' Twitch broadcast wasn't unanimous. Many of the replies to Sanders' tweet announcing the Twitch stream are from people calling the senator a "scab" because he hosted the stream at a time when some were boycotting Amazon and Twitch in support of the striking Amazon workers. One tweet called Sanders an "absolute boomer," for not knowing that Twitch is owned by Amazon. Others questioned whether Sanders' support for workers, such as his calls for the games industry to unionize, is a facade.

It seems likely that this was a mistake by Sanders and his team and that they really didn't know that Amazon owns Twitch. However, Sanders and his team may want to read up and prepare for next time if they're going to use Twitch to win support from gamers.

Source:Twitter - Bernie Sanders, Kotaku